Interview with Landscape photographer Guillaume Tomasi | MONOVISIONS

MonoVisions Black & White Photo Contest 2025

– How and when did you become interested in photography?

I discovered photography during the fall of 2012. I was (and I’m still) in Montreal and I stumbled upon the work of Julien Coquentin called “Tôt un dimanche matin”. I was really attracted by his pictures and I figured out that photography could be something else than just a visually representation a subject. It was possible to tell a story, to communicate personal feelings and considerations. At this period, I was really frustrating by my job which was web development and I needed a better creative approach to express what was inside my head. So after that, I bought a digital camera and I’m still shooting since that day.

– Is there any artist/photographer who inspired your art?

A lot. It’s difficult to set a list but among other I would say Stephen Shore, Joel Sternfeld, Todd Hido, Larry Sultan and Alec Soth.

– Why do you work in black and white rather than colour?

Usually, I prefer color but for this work I chose black and white. The absence of colors reinforce the topic of my subject and doesn’t specify a timeline or a specific period. In my project, I wanted to focus on these small villages which were the victims because they are located in the surroundings of highways. It seems that time has been stopped over there, and the black and white film underlines this feeling. We can think that they are archive photographies but it’s not..

– How much preparation do you put into taking a photograph/series of photographs?

It really depends of the project. For this one, after having define the main concept, I search on google maps where I can find these tiny villages. I drive all days around these areas and it’s more or less a freestyle approach. Driving on small roads, stopping a few minutes for a picture and repeart that process without knowing where I am going.

– Where is your photography going? What projects would you like to accomplish?

For this project, I would like to pursue this work on different season, not only in winter. I tend to think that I can produce a photobook with these pictures. I am working also on another project, in color this time, about how a singular event can alter our world perception.
I’m also really interesting about collaborations between artists, so I created a project called “Fiiiirst” (www.fiiiirst.com) which is basically a photo gallery which present image based discussions between authors photographers who doesn’t know with whom they are interacting with.

Website: www.guillaumetomasi.com